Risperdal - My 6 year old daughter has autism non verbal?

Her meltdowns are extreme she pulls hair smashed her head against walls kicks bites ect she does this to herself and others it goes for over half an hour at a time and happens more than 5 times a day,I've tried everything diet wise and I'm on the verge of loosing it. My family is suffering my 4 year old son my husband and myself never go a day without her arregessive meltdowns so the pead has recommended I try risperedone, I'm just so concerned in regards to all the side effects And whether or not it will even work

Responses (2)

At around the age of 6/7 my daughter who is now 19 was placed on risperdal, I would have to say that it did help, but the weight gain she suffered as a result and if I had known she would have never have taken. To this day when asked if she is allergic to any medicines, Risperdal is number one on the list. She recently went to a new family physician who told her that it could take 20 years after stopping the risperdal to recover from the side effects. I have two pictures I keep in my wallet, a 2003 picture and a 2004 picture. In the 2003 picture, her face was red and it looked like she was bloated the 2004 picture looked normal, no redness nor was there any evidence of her appearing bloated. My daughter had been diagnosed with ADHD, bi-polar and oppositional diffiant disorder when she was in kindergarten, Luck for me, at one of her appointments with her therapists she had a meltdown, her therapist showed me a restraint technique that at first I was reluctant to use in public, but once my daughter realized that every single time she started biting, kicking, hurting herself or others that mom was going to restrain her the tantrums became less and far in between.

Thanks for your response 2003daughterDid you find a dramatic difference with her aggression and meltdowns as my daughters are very severe? Also with the weight gain did you find it was because of an increased appetite or was it more fluid retention? I have heard a lot of stories regarding risperedone and weight gain.

My daughter has been on risperidone for about 10 years now and it has made quite a difference in her aggressive behavior. She has not suffered weight gain but does suffer from increased prolactin levels. We monitor her prolactin levels and keep the dose low in order to keep the prolactin within acceptable levels. She has done quite well with risperidone overall. Every medication has risks and you must weigh those risks with the risks of not using a medication. I would also recommend doing some serious investigation into whether your daughter is in pain. We found that our daughter was suffering pain and due to her lack of effective communication she resorted to self aggression as a way to deal with the pain.

Thankyou for your feedbackI actually went ahead with putting her on the medication It's been almost 3 months now and wow! What a changeHer anxiety is almost completely gone, she has made a huge progress at school and i am even able to take her out without any meltdowns,She definitely still has "moments" but they quickly pass and there is no self harming at all.Her appetite has increased so I am very weary of what I feed her as I am concerned about weight gain. So far so good though